The 1996 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 5, 1996 as part of the 1996 United States presidential election

United States presidential election, 1996

The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...

. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 and Vice President

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

.

Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

was won by Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

 (R

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

-KS

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

) by a narrow 1.2 percentage point margin of Victory. The presidential election in the Peach state was the third closest contest that year in any state with only Kentucky and Nevada being closer. Dole's victory was possible due to the declining support for Democrats in Georgia and many other Southeastern States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, though the Democratic Party in Georgia would remain a significant institution until the early 2000s. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot

Ross Perot

Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...

 (Ref-TX

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

), who had unsuccessfully run for President as an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 in the previous election, won 6.4% of the popular vote in the Peach state, a significant total for a third party

Third party (United States)

The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...

 candidate. This is the last time to date that either a Democratic Presidential nominee has finished within less than two percentage points of the Republican candidate or that any third party candidate has won more than five percent of the popular vote in Georgia.

During the concurrent U.S. Senate election in Georgia

United States Senate election in Georgia, 1996

The 1996 United States Senate election in Georgia. was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Sam Nunn decided to retire. Democrat Max Cleland won the open seat by a little over thirty thousand votes.-Results:...

, Secretary of State of Georgia

Secretary of state of Georgia

The secretary of state of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public records....

 Max Cleland

Max Cleland

Joseph Maxwell Cleland is an American politician from Georgia. Cleland, a Democrat, is a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat, and a former U.S. Senator...

 (D) narrowly defeated Businessman Guy Millner

Guy Millner

Guy W. Millner is an American multi-millionaire businessman who ran as a Republican for governor of Georgia in 1994, United States Senator from Georgia in 1996 and Governor of Georgia in 1998, losing all three races....

 (R) 48.87% to 47.54% to win election to the seat that Incumbent Senator Sam Nunn

Sam Nunn

Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...

 (D) left open to retire. In addition, incumbent U.S. Representatives Sanford Bishop

Sanford Bishop

Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district is located in the southwestern part of the state and includes Albany, Thomasville and most of Columbus....

 (D-GA-2), Saxby Chambliss

Saxby Chambliss

Clarence Saxby Chambliss, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. Representative ....

 (R-GA-8), and Charlie Norwood

Charlie Norwood

Charles Whitlow Norwood, Jr., D.D.S. was an American politician and dentist, serving as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 until his death...

 (R-GA-10) all received strong challenges that year during the House elections but were nonetheless re-elected.

Results

United States presidential election in Georgia, 1996
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	Bob Dole Bob Dole Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...	Jack Kemp Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...	1,080,843	47.0%	13
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...	Al Gore Al Gore Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....	1,053,849	45.8%	0
	Reform	Ross Perot Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...	Pat Choate Pat Choate Patrick Choate is an American economist who is perhaps most known for being the 1996 Reform Party Vice President candidate, the running-mate of H. Ross Perot...	146,337	6.4%	0
	Libertarian Libertarian Party (United States) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...	Harry Browne Harry Browne Harry Browne was an American libertarian writer, politician, and free-market investment analyst. He ran for President of the United States as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1996 and 2000....	Jo Jorgensen Jo Jorgensen Jo Jorgensen was the United States Libertarian Party candidate for vice-president in the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the running mate of presidential candidate Harry Browne. She was also a South Carolina congressional candidate for House District 4 in 1992 receiving 4,286 votes for 2.2%.She is...	17,870	0.8%	0
	Taxpayers Constitution Party (United States) The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...	Howard Phillips (write-in)	Herbert Titus	145	0.01%	0
	independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	Charles E. Collins Charles E. Collins Charles Edwin Collins was an independent candidate for President of the United States in the 1996 presidential election and sought unsuccessfully to run again in 2000.-Bay County, Florida book censorship:...  (write-in)	Rosemary Giumarra	15	0.0%	0
	Socialist Workers Socialist Workers Party (United States) The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...	James Harris James Harris (politician) James Harris is an African American communist politician and member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. He was the party's candidate for President of the United States in 1996 receiving 8,463 votes and again in 2000 when his ticket received 7,378 votes...  (write-in)	Laura Garza Laura Garza Laura Garza is an American socialist politician, a garment worker and a member of UNITE HERE Local 187.Garza ran as the Socialist Workers Party candidate for Vice President in 1996. She and running mate James Harris received 8,463 votes...	12	0.0%	0
Totals				2,299,071	100.00%	13
Voter turnout (Voting age)					42%

Electors

Technically the voters of Georgia cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Georgia was allocated 13 electors because it has 11 congressional districts

Georgia's congressional districts

After the 2000 Census, the State of Georgia was divided into 13 Congressional Districts, increasing from 11 due to reapportionment. The state was redistricted again in 2005, although the number of districts has remained thirteen....

 and 2 senators. All candidates who appeared on the ballot or qualified to receive write-in votes had to submit a list of 13 electors, who pledged to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever won the majority of votes in the state was awarded all 13 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for President and Vice President. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector

Faithless elector

In United States presidential elections, a faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the candidate they have pledged to vote for...

.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 1996 to cast their votes for President and Vice President. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Bob Dole and Jack Kemp.

1. Thomas J. Barnette
2. Dot Burns
3. Jeanne Ferst
4. Briggs A. Goggans
5. Camilla Johnson-Moore
6. Brenda R. (B.J.) Lopez
7. Mack Mattingly
   Mack Mattingly
   Mack Francis Mattingly served one term as a United States senator from Georgia, the first Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate from that state since Reconstruction.-Early life:...
   
   
8. Russell K. (Rusty) Paul
9. Oscar N. Persons
10. Alec Poitevint
11. John M. Stuckey, Jr.
12. Stan Wise
13. Ray Wooldridge